Memory card, memory card connector and combination thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof. The memory card connector includes a shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points arranged in the shell body; a plurality of external conductive points arranged at the outside of the shell body; and a plurality of wires for electrically connecting those internal conductive points and those external conductive points. Wherein, a notch is arranged at the shell body for containing a first memory card and a plurality conductive pad of the first memory card to be electrically connected with those internal conductive points in the shell body. The memory device combining the first memory card and the memory card connector has an appearance of a second memory card so as the present invention can utilize the memory card connector to transfer the first memory card into the second memory card for accessing data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a storage media, and more particularly relates to a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Currently, many electronic consuming products have their own memory cards to perform the data access, but there are various types of memory cards in the market, for example, the SD memory card, the MMC memory card, the CF memory card, the MS memory card, the SM memory card, the XD memory card, the RS-MMC memory card, the mini-SD memory card, the Trans Flash memory card and other different memory cards. Therefore, the manufacturers produce many kinds of specifications of memory cards to adopt the consuming products. And, a user usually needs to purchase the additional memory cards for complying with the consuming electronic products. It is expensive and complicated to manufacture various specific memory cards for these electronic consuming products.

For solving the question hereinabove, many manufacturers design various memory card connectors, for example, a USB standard interface is applied in a USB card reader for conversion. FIG. 1 is a conventional memory card connector schematic diagram. A connector 10 has a space 12 on one end to position a memory card 14, and another end of the connector 10 has a USB portion 16 to connect with the electronic product that has the USB portion thereby. The connector 10 may be designed with different size of the space 12 configuration for different memory cards. However, a user still needs the USB portion 16 to perform the connecting operation. Therefore, the connector 10 cannot satisfy the user's requirement.

Next, FIG. 2 is another diagram illustrating an exemplary memory card connector of U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,801. As FIG. 2 shows, one end of a memory card 18 has a USB portion 20, wherein it is necessary for a user to utilize a connection-housing 22 to configure with the memory card 18 along the arrow A. However, a large size of the memory card 18 can not be converted to the small size of memory card by the connection-housing 22, for example, the CF memory card can not be converted to the XD memory card by the connection-housing 22 directly, and therefore causes the limitation in practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to provide a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof that includes a first memory card and a memory card connector having an appearance of a second memory card. A user only needs to follow the specifications of the memory card from an electronic product to embed with certain memory card connector thereby. After assembling, the memory device is replaced of the memory card to configure in the electronic product. Therefore, the memory device is converted as various kinds of memory cards without utilizing additional memory card connectors.

In order to provide a memory card, a memory card connector and a memory device thereof that a first memory card is converted as compatible interface with different specifications of a second memory card. Therefore, a user may easily purchase the memory card with lower price.

Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card connector including: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; and a plurality of wires set in the shell body to electrically connect the internal conductive points and the external conductive points. Wherein, the opening is accommodated with a first memory card and the internal conductive points in the shell body to electrically connect the conductive pads of the first memory card; and the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has an appearance of a second memory card.

Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof. Wherein, the memory card connector includes: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; and a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; a plurality of wires set in the shell house to electrically connect with the internal conductive points and the external conductive points; a first memory card having a plurality of conductive pads to expose to the outside. The opening is accommodated with a first memory card, and the internal conductive points in the shell body electrically connected to the conductive pads of the first memory card; the combination of the first memory card and the shell body having an appearance of a second memory card.

Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card comprising: a substrate having a USB portion at one end thereof, and the USB portion set a plurality of USB interface pads thereon, another end of the substrate set a plurality of conductive pads; at least one memory set on the substrate to store the data; a controlling component set on the substrate to control the access of from the memory; and an encapsulated body encapsulating the substrate and exposed to the USB portion, the USB interface pads and the conductive pads.

Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the accompanying advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a conventional memory card connector schematic diagram;

FIG. 2 is another diagram illustrating an exemplary memory card connection of U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,801;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front-view diagram illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side-view diagram illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 7 is an assembling schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 8 is an assembling schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 9 is a 3-Dimensional diagram illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 10 is a 3-Dimensional diagram illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 11 is a packaging flowchart illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 12 is a packaging schematic diagram illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;

FIG. 13A is a front-view diagram according to the one embodiment of present invention; and

FIG. 13B is a front-view diagram according to the one embodiment of present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are the front-view diagrams according to the one embodiment of present invention. As FIG. 13A shown, a memory connector 400 includes: a shell body 520, and an opening 630 formed on the shell body 520; a plurality of the internal conductive points 620 set in the shell body 520; a plurality of external conductive points 610 set in the shell body 520, and a plurality of wires 600 set in the shell body 520 to electrically connect the internal conductive points 620 and the external conductive points 610.

Next, the opening 630 is to accommodate a first memory card 100, and the first memory card 100 has a plurality of conductive pads 320 exposing to outside. The internal conductive points 620 of the shell body 520 is electrically connected to the conductive pads 620 of the first memory card 100. In addition, the shell body 520 includes a connection structure (not shown) to fix the first memory card 100 in the opening 630. The connecting structure can be a latch connection structure, a clip connection structure, a notch connection structure or other kinds of connecting structure.

As FIG. 13B shows, the first memory card 100 and the memory card connector 400 are assembled with an appearance of a second memory card. In one embodiment, the combination of the first memory card 100 and the memory card connector 400 only has partially appearance of the second memory card 110. Thus, the present invention is not to be limited, the combination of the first memory card 100 and the memory card connector 400 has perfectly appearance of the second memory card 110, too.

In other embodiments, the first memory card is a SD memory card, MMC memory card, CF memory card, MS memory card, SM memory card, XD memory card, RS-MMC memory card, mini-SD memory card, trans flash memory card, smart card, credit card or UFD.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The memory device includes the first memory card 100 and the memory card connector 400, wherein the appearance of memory card connector 400 is to be designed as the structure of the second memory card, and the first memory card 100 has the miniaturized structure to configure in the memory card connector 400. Therefore, the exemplary memory device may be used as various memory cards.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The first memory card 100 includes a substrate 200, a USB portion 300, a plurality of USB interface pads 310 and a plurality of conductive pads 320. One end of the substrate 200 has the USB portion 300, and the USB portion 300 is set on the conductive pads 320 thereon. Therefore, the first memory card may be configured as a miniaturized structure of USB flash drive (UFD). Meanwhile, the USB portion 300 is compatible with the standard of universal serial bus (USB) to connect with another USB portion of the electronic product for accessing data.

Next, in one embodiment, the present invention of the first memory card 100 has as least one memory (not shown) to set on the substrate 200 to access data. The memory is nonvolatile memory or other kinds of memory to apply in the first memory card 100. In order to control data access, the first memory card 100 has a controlling component (not shown) and a passive component (not shown). Furthermore, an encapsulated body (not shown) is one-piece formed structure for encapsulating the substrate 200 and exposing the USB portion 300, the USB interface pads 310 and the conductive pads 320 to the outside.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are front-view diagram and side-view diagram respectively illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The memory card connector 400 includes an upper cover 500, a lower cover 510, a plurality of wires 600, a plurality of internal conductive points 610 and a plurality of external conductive points 620, wherein the upper cover 500 and the lower cover 510 of the memory card connector 400 is assembled as the shell body 520. The shell body 520 has an appearance of the first memory card 100 (Referring to FIG. 3). The wires 600 are set on the memory card connector 400 therein. One end of the wires 600 is electrically connected to the external conductive points 610 of the memory card connector 400, and another end of the memory card connector 400 is formed an opening 630 to electrically connect with the internal conductive points 620.

Accordingly, the present invention of the memory card connector can be made of an appearance with the SD card, the MMC card, the CF memory card, the MS memory card, the SM memory card, the XD memory card, the RS-MMC memory card, the mini-SD memory card, the trans flash memory card, the smart card, the credit card and the UFD, etc. Moreover, the upper cover 500 and the lower cover 510 have an exposing area to expose the external conductive points 610 of the memory card connector 400, the opening 630 of the memory card connector 400 and the internal conductive points 620 of the opening 630. The upper cover 500 and the lower cover 510 are made of plastic materials. The wires 600 and the external conductive points 610 are conductive metal materials, and the internal conductive points 620 have an elastic structure of the conductive metal.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are assembling schematic diagrams illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. In one embodiment, as FIG. 7 shown, the first memory card 100 is to be moved toward the opening 630 of the memory card connector 400 along with the arrow B. The first memory card 100 is configured in the opening 630 of the memory card connector 400 to electrically connect the conductive pads 320 of the first memory card 100 to the internal conductive points 620 of the memory card connector 400 thereby. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the memory card connector 400 with an appearance of the second memory card and the first memory card 100 are finished after assembling procedure.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are the 3-Dimensional diagrams illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. In one preferred embodiment, in order to locate the position, a connection structure is configured at two sides of the opening 630 (Referring to FIG. 7) of the memory card connector 400 and the first memory card 100. For example, as FIG. 9 shows, the connecting structure is a notch structure, and the notch structure 701 is ∩ shaped. As FIG. 10 shown, the notch is V shaped. Therefore, from the aforementioned, the connecting structure is a latch connection structure, a clip connection structure or other connecting structures/devices to locate the position between the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card. The preferred embodiment is only depicted hereinabove, not to be limited to the particular form disclosed.

Next, please referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are the packaging flowchart and schematic diagrams respectively illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. Firstly, a USB portion 300(S10) is formed at one end of a substrate 200. Next, a memory 330, a controlling component 340 and a passive component 350 are set on the substrate 200(S20). Then, the memory 330, the controlling component 340 and the passive component 350 are electrically connected to the substrate 200(S30), for example, a plurality of connecting wires 360 are electrically connected from the memory 330 to the substrate 200. Next, an upper molding 800 and a supporting molding 810 perform the molding compound process. An encapsulated body (not shown) passes through a molding hole 820 to encapsulate the memory 330, the controlling component 340 and the passive component 350 and substrate 200(S40). Wherein, the USB portion 300, the USB interface pads (not shown) and the conductive pads (not shown) contact with the supporting molding 810. Therefore, the encapsulated body has no encapsulation area to expose the USB portion 300, the USB interface pads and the conductive pads. Moreover, the method of electrically connection utilizes the flip-chip or other techniques to manufacture thereby. Due to the requirements for the design and process procedure, the encapsulation area and shape can be changed. The one embodiment as explained from above, after filling process, the first memory card gets the one-piece form structure to elevate the yields.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention of the miniaturized structure of the first memory card, such as the miniaturized structure of the USB, has reduced its size to fit in memory card connector of the second memory card, such as the SD memory card, the MS memory card, the CF memory card and the XD memory card, etc. The memory is embedded in first memory card to be utilized by various features of the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card for achieving the purpose of conversion directly, and the user decreases the expense to purchase the memory card thereby. Therefore, the user only needs to distinguish the specification of memory card from the specific electronic product, and choose the proper memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card. Then, the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card are assembled as the memory device thereby. The memory device is configured in the specific electronic product to be utilized, for example, the user owns a digital camera (DC) and personal digital assistant (PDA) that have the specifications of memory card are XD and CF respectively. If the user utilizes the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card from the present invention, the first memory card is configured in the second memory card connector with an appearance of the XD memory card or the CF memory card. Therefore, the user achieves to covert the specifications of XD memory card and CF memory card to the DC and PDA each other for data sharing and storage.

To make a summary, the present invention provides the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card, the user only needs to follow the specifications of the memory card from the electronic product to embed with certain memory card connector thereby. After assembling, the memory device is replaced of the memory card to configure in the electronic product. Therefore, the memory device is converted as various kinds of memory cards without additional memory card connectors. Meanwhile, the first memory card is converted as the compatible interface with different specifications of the second memory card. Therefore, the user easily purchases the memory with lower price.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific example thereof has been shown in the drawings and is herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A memory card connector comprising: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; and a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; a plurality of wires set in the shell house to electrically connect the internal conductive points and the external conductive points, wherein the opening is accommodated with a first memory card, and the first memory card has a plurality of conductive pads to expose to the outside; the internal conductive points in the shell body are electrically connected the conductive pads of the first memory card; and the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has an appearance of a second memory card.
 2. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the shell body comprises a connecting structure to fix the first memory card in the opening.
 3. The memory card connector according to claim 2, wherein the connecting structure is a latch connecting structure, a clip connecting structure, a notch connecting structure or other connecting structure.
 4. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the first memory card is a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 5. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the second memory card is a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 6. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has perfectly appearance or partially appearance of the second memory card.
 7. A memory device comprising: a memory card connector comprising: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; and a plurality of wires set in the shell body to electrically connect the internal conductive points and the external conductive points; and a first memory card having a plurality of conductive pads to expose to the outside, wherein the opening is accommodated with a first memory card and the internal conductive points in the shell body to electrically connect the conductive pads of the first memory card; and the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has an appearance of a second memory card.
 8. The memory device according to claim 7, wherein the shell body comprises a connecting structure to fix the first memory card in the opening.
 9. The memory device according to claim 8, wherein the connecting structure is a latch connecting structure, a clip connecting structure, a notch connecting structure or other connecting structure.
 10. The memory device according to claim 7, wherein the first memory card is a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 11. The memory device according to claim 7, wherein the second memory card is a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 12. The memory device according to claim 7, wherein the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has perfectly appearance or partially appearance of the second memory card.
 13. A memory device comprising: a first memory card comprising: a substrate having a USB portion at one end thereof, and the USB portion set a plurality of USB interface pads thereon, another end of the substrate set a plurality of conductive pads; at least one memory set on the substrate to store the data; a controlling component set on the substrate to control the access from the memory; and an encapsulated body encapsulating the substrate and exposing to the USB portion, the USB interface pads and the conductive pads; and a memory card connector comprising: a shell body having an upper cover and a lower cover to form an appearance of a second memory card, and one end of the shell body has an opening to accommodate the first memory card; and a plurality of wires set in the memory card connector, the wires electrically connected a plurality of external conductive points of the memory card connector, and another end of the wires set in the opening to electrically connect a plurality of internal conductive points; wherein, the first memory card is set in the opening of the memory card connector, and the conductive pads of the first memory card are electrically connected to the internal conductive points of the memory card connector.
 14. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the shell body further comprises a connecting structure to fix the memory card connector and the first memory card.
 15. The memory device according to claim 14, wherein the connecting structure is a latch connecting structure, a clip connecting structure or a notch connecting structure.
 16. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the first memory card is a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 17. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the size of the first memory card is smaller than the memory card connector's.
 18. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the first memory card is a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 19. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the encapsulated body is one-piece formed structure.
 20. A memory card comprising: a substrate having a USB portion at one end thereof, and the USB portion set a plurality of USB interface pads thereon, another end of the substrate set a plurality of conductive pads; at least one memory set on the substrate to store the data; a controlling component set on the substrate to control the access from the memory; and an encapsulated body encapsulating the substrate and exposing to the USB portion, the USB interface pads and the conductive pads.
 21. The memory card according to claim 20, wherein the encapsulated body is one-piece formed structure.
 22. The memory card according to claim 20, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile memory.
 23. The memory card according to claim 20, wherein the USB portion is compatible with the standard of universal serial bus (USB).
 24. The memory card according to claim 20 further comprising a plurality of wires to electrically connect to the substrate and the memory.
 25. The memory card according to claim 20, wherein the memory card is the structure of a USB flash memory disk.
 26. The memory card according to claim 20 further comprising a passive component to set on the substrate.
 27. A memory card connector associated with a memory card of claim 20, comprising: a shell body having an upper cover and a lower cover to form an appearance of a second memory card, and one end of the shell body has an opening to accommodate the first memory card; and a plurality of wires set in the memory card connector, the wires electrically connected a plurality of external conductive points of the memory card connector, and another end of the wires set in the opening to electrically connect a plurality of internal conductive points.
 28. The memory card connector according to claim 27, wherein the shell body has an exposing area to expose the internal conductive points of the memory card connector, the opening of the memory card connector and the internal conductive points in the opening.
 29. The memory card connector according to claim 27, wherein the wires are made of conductive metal.
 30. The memory card connector according to claim 27, wherein the first memory card has an appearance of a SD memory card, a MMC memory card, a CF memory card, a MS memory card, a SM memory card, a XD memory card, a RS-MMC memory card, a mini-SD memory card, a Trans Flash memory card, a smart card, credit card or a USB flash memory disk (UFD).
 31. The memory card connector according to claim 27, wherein the shell body is a plastic material.
 32. The memory card connector according to claim 27, wherein the internal conductive points have an elastic structure of the conductive metal. 